Legislation allowing Georgia property owners to contract directly with solar energy installers to finance the installation of solar panels is essentially dead for the year.

State Rep. Mike Dudgeon, R-Johns Creek, conceded during a legislative committee meeting Thursday that with the bill still not in final form, time is running out in the 2014 session to move it through the General Assembly.

Property owners can install solar panels at their homes and businesses under current Georgia law, but only if they pay the installer up front. Dudgeon’s bill would allow leases and other forms of third-party financing to make it easier for Georgians wanting to save on their utility bills to turn to solar.

“It makes no sense to distinguish between a consumer paying cash and … a consumer who may lease or enter into a PPA [power-purchasing agreement] for the same solar panel,” said Bobby Baker, an energy lawyer, former member of the Georgia Public Service Commission and board member of the nonprofit Georgia Property Rights Council.

“It would be like saying the only way you can buy a car is to pay for it upfront.”

During a Georgia House of Representatives committee hearing Thursday, the bill’s supporters included solar installers and representatives from nonprofit groups seeking to expand opportunities for churches and other community organizations to install solar panels at their facilities.

Lobbyists for Georgia utilities who have opposed similar legislation in the past expressed some sympathy for the restrictions on paying for solar panels in current law.

“Georgia Power is not against solar … when it’s cost effective and makes sense for out customers,” said John D’Andrea, the Atlanta-based utility’s legislative affairs manager.

D’Andrea suggested the bill could be “tailored” in a way to benefit all of the parties interested in the issue.

But Dudgeon said there’s not enough time left in the current session to finalize the legislation to gain that agreement.

Rep. Don Parsons, R-Marietta, chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, said he would appoint a subcommittee to continue working on the bill during and after this year’s session